The Black Death may have been triggered by asteroid impact
© GettyThe Black Death may have been triggered by asteroid impact
The devastating Black Death which killed hundreds of millions of people in the 14th century may have been triggered by an asteroid impact, scientists have sensationally claimed.

The shocking revelation threatens to debunk one of the biggest chunks of British history and turn the world of science and academia on its head.

And experts warn another collision with Earth could happen "at any moment" sparking an outbreak of disease capable of wiping out entire populations.

History has for centuries claimed the Black Death which led to the gruesome deaths of up to 200 million people in Europe was carried by rats and fleas.

Its victims were covered in huge weeping boils, swollen lymph glands, gangrene and rotting limbs and eventually succumbed to a slow an painful death.

It struck again every 30 or so years until the famous medieval bubonic plague in 1664 which finally came to an end after the Great Fire of London in 1666.

It is widely accepted that the 14th century epidemic, the most catastrophic ever recorded in Europe's history, was a caused by the bacteria Yersinia pestis which spread from China.

An artist's impression of an asteroid impact
© APAn artist's impression of an asteroid impact
The Apophis asteroid will pass the planet on in April 2029 and possibly again ten years later when a collision could occur.

Professor Wickramasinghe said: "If as it passed the earth it happens to pass through a certain narrow window in space then in 2036 it will return and hit the Earth.

"This narrow window is a point where the earth's gravity would deflect the orbit of Apophis just enough to ensure an impact in 2036.

"If Apophis hits the Earth the impact will be in the 3000-megaton class, it is entirely reasonable to state that such an impact would collapse our current civilisation and return the survivors, metaphorically speaking, to the Dark Ages.

"Baillie has the scientific evidence to support his theory and his evidence supports what the people of the time were saying: earthquakes, comets, rains of death and fire, corrupted atmosphere, and death on a scale that is almost unimaginable."

Professor Baille, author of the book 'New Light on The Black Death' added: "Something happened to change the atmosphere and the environment and killed a lot of people.

"That could happen again."